The 74th Hunger Games: Foxface's Point of View
by rnewe1998
Summary: "But isn't that supposed to be my strategy? Stay unnoticed, wither it comes to my training score or how I handled my interview. Let the others forget about me."
1. Chapter 1

The metal platform rises into to place with an eerie _clink_. My stark red hair blows in the wind as I survey the area around me. A grassy plane grows in the middle of the arena which is surrounded by a thick, piney forest to the right of me. To my left, a steep drop-off stretches down into the unknown. I look ahead, but I cannot see the bounty that is surely pilled high in the golden horn, as I face the back of it. However that is not a problem. I do not plan to fight for the supplies, just get away from the bloody scene and work from there.

The countdown is reaching its end, I estimate only about ten seconds remain. I shift myself to face the direction in which the forest is located, planning to sprint there once the countdown completes. The gong sounds across the arena and I'm off. The leather boots I was supplied with carry me easily across the hard ground as I speed past the tributes. I'm thinking I am going completely undetected by the tributes heading for the horn (as planned), until a sliver arrow soars by my head. I turn to see the girl from 1, Glimmer, re-load a sleek sliver bow, the tip of the arrow trained at my skull. She fires weapon and in that moment, everything seems to go in slow motion. The shinning arrow glides through the air, and I'm too terrified to do anything but keep running from the pointed projectile. I close my eyes as I hear the sliver feathers of the arrow whistling through the breezy air, closer to me, waiting for the impact to come. But it never does, and the sharp arrow only severs about three inches of my lush red hair, letting it fall to the ground.

I am now too far away now for her to try and shoot me again, and I know she will not chase me, as she will want to participate in the bloodbath along with the other five members of the Careers alliance. I reach the tree line and look back to survey the field. Pools of blood stain the earth, and, as if the scene is gruesome enough, many tributes still battle, and amongst them is my district partner, Hevax. Hevax is struggling with the boy from 8 over a supply case, but it seems the other boy has the upper hand. He is strangling Hevax, sitting on top of his chest. Hevax's hands claw at the boys back, but his efforts are futile, because only a moment later the boy from eight finishes him off, smashing his head against the metal case they were competing for only seconds ago.

I turn back to the trees and my feet awkwardly lurch through a cluster of roots and weeds boarding the forest, and after I untangle my feet from the growth, I fly off into the woods.

The sun plummets below the horizon, signaling the day's end. While most of the tributes are more than likely preparing for sleep, I need to find supplies if I want to survive another day. I plan my strategy as I make my way back to the field where the games started just hours ago. The Careers will prowl the woods for tributes tonight leaving there camp, hopefully un-attended. No doubt they have taken control of the majority of the supplies, and I only plan to pilfer small amounts of their stockpile to stay off their radar.

"Just be as unforgettable as possible." I whisper to myself.

I take a break on a downed tree trunk just as the sky illuminates with our nations seal. The faces of the dead quickly follow and I look the sky in deep concentration, wanting to know who I still have left to compete with in this terrible game. First is the girl from District 3 appears. The Careers from 1 and 2 have made it through, as they do almost every year. Than the boy from 4. I liked to say I'd be surprised, him being a Career and everything, but he looked very young during our time in the Capital. I question if the Careers even asked him to join their gang, with him being so young and small. Then comes Havax. I pang of sandiness hits me that I did not feel earlier this day; possibly the adrenaline pumping through me clouded any emotions at the time. He was the same age as me, 15, and went to school together back in District 5. He was somewhat shy, and didn't have many friends, just like me. We never really talked, only when we were forced to do partner work in school, but I think we would get along if we ever had became friends. The pair from 6 are the next to show. Followed by the pair from 7, than the boy from 8. Next comes both from 9, than finally the girl from 10. Normally, Districts 11 and 12 never make it through the first day, but this year, both pairs did. I expected the large boy from 11, Thresh to make it, and even Katniss, from 12, who was such a hit with the Capital Audience and her eleven and training. I bet they'll both have sponsors lined up to shower them with gifts; however that is not the case for me. My score of 5 in training will put me amongst the mediocre tributes that rarely get any gifts, and my stylist isn't anywhere as close to a genius twelve's was with their flaming costumes. But isn't that supposed to be my strategy? Stay unnoticed, wither it comes to my training score or how I handled my interview. Let the others forget about me. This strategy surely won't grant me any sponsors, but will it guarantee a spot for me in the final eight?

I shake my head clear as I stand up. I can't worry about that now, now I must worry about getting food and water. I take up a quite, quick prance through the woods as I make my way back to the Career's camp by the lake. I keep a steady pace for about a half an hour until I reach the boarder of the large clearing that holds the Careers plentiful stockpile. As I had expected, they are off hunting tributes deep in the woods. I stay back for about fifteen minutes, though, just to make sure nobody has stayed behind as guard. As I peer out into the darkened filed, searching for any sign of another tribute, I notice all of the supplies is piled into a sloppily made pyramid with holes dug up all around the structure. Is this their form of a booby trap? Hoping that if another tribute plans to steal their hard fought stockpile, their feet would trip up in the up heaved earth? Whatever the reason is, the step up seems questionable, so I take extra caution as I approach the bounty.


	2. Chapter 2

I swiftly sprint across the barren plane until I reach the pyramid full of life sustaining supplies. I examine the somewhat shallow holes dug around the pyramid. Only about six inches deep, I come to the conclusion that this must be some sort of booby trap, what other purposes can this serve? Maybe if there is some sort of flood, they might be able to trap some of the water, but if they wanted to do that, why not make them bigger? I look up from the earth and examine the contents of the stockpile. Everything from apples to gasoline cans makes up the structure. I grab a small burlap sack and begin to fill it with two apples, a half a dozen crackers, and a small metal flask to hold water. Only this small amount is what I placed in the sack, as I do not want to tip off the Careers that another tribute was here, even if they can't prove it was me.

I stand there, in the middle of the open filed, not sure where to go. I start towards the woods, but then I recall the Careers are prowling through that very section of the arena right now. I look opposite of the woods and notice the drop off where I started infront of the arena this morning. It could hold anything, but, really, it seems like the most logical choice to go that way.

I sling the burlap sack over my shoulder and heads towards the unknown cautiously. As I round the Cornucopia, I see a figure that looks like a male crouched down by one of the metal tribute plates. I freeze in fear. Has he heard me? Of course not, he would have been on me by now with the large spear sprawled three feet away from him. Once the fear drains out of me, I wonder he is doing, and what district he is from. He paints loudly, possibly from exertion, but I cannot tell what he is doing. Driven by curiosity, I quietly near him, wanting to know what he is up to. When I reach a certain angle, I discover he is digging small holes (just like the ones around the pyramids) around the tribute plates. Is he working for the Careers? Or has he himself made these traps in hopes of tripping up a Career, possibly injuring them? I'm about to dash off into the slope until I see something odd. He is _extracting_ something out of the holes. Plastic, circle-like objects appear out of the freshly dug earth. He places the circle in what seems to be a basket. After he closes it gently, he moves to the next plate. _Land mines_, I think. It all makes sense now. Those holes around the pyramid weren't created to trip people; they were made to contain a much more elaborate, more dangerous trap. It's a very clever way to protect their goods, but don't they know that one blast from just one of those landmines could significantly damage the things they fought so hard for? This also confirms my other two questions. The only tribute who knows to manipulate such an object must be from District 3, the district that supplies our nation with technology, and is most defiantly working from the Careers, if he wasn't; he would have just taken the supplies and ran. They probably have promised the small boy some sort of deal that he can live if he helps around camp. He wipes beads of sweat off of his forehead and returns to work.

Dawn is approaching, and the sky turns brighter. As I dash away from the scene, I hear the blast of a cannon, signifying the death of another tribute. This only makes me run faster. When I reach the edge of the incline, I notice it violently slopes downward. Tangles of weeds and different, ugly, plants cascade down the dangerous trail. Below, I see a large landscape of marshy lands that stretch for miles.

The steep trail is not easy to conquer. I half slide, half tumble down the overgrown ground until I reach its muddy bottom. Exhausted after a whole day without rest, I crawl around the ground, searching for a place to sleep. Immediately, I come across a clearing less than a quarter of a mile away from where I landed. The soft, grainy dirt around it is easy enough to dig up that I'm able to create a burrow in which I climb into. When I get settled in the hole, only the left side of my small figure peaks out of the ground, which I lazily cover with handfuls of dead grass and weeds. My eye lids grow heavy and I finally find sleep.

I awake to the afternoon sun light painted across the sky. The soft, cool earth that surrounded me earlier is now baked in cracked in the powerful sun. I flounder out of the hole and lay on my stomach the hot ground for about ten minutes. As I lie there, I realize how thirsty and hungry I am. My dirt-caked fingers claw through the burlap sack until I reach the metal flask filled with a small portion of water that I down in seconds. My cracked throat and tongue quickly become damp as the life saving liquid snakes through my insides. My stomach aches for something to fill it and I eat four of my six crackers and one of my apples, leaving me with a small portion of remaining food and no water. Back in District 5, we don't live poverty stricken lives like so many other districts do, however we are not as wealthy as the districts where the Careers hail from. We always had something to eat, and so does mostly the whole population. I realize that they may lead to my own demise, and I scold myself for eating more than half of my food for one meal.

I stand; ready to start my journey into the swampy area that lies ahead of me. I brush out strands of dead grass out of my hair than walk into the long grass that towers over me. The boots I wear get sucked under the sinking earth and I have to tear them out with a loud sucking sound. Aimlessly, I wander around the marshy continuously having to pull my feet out of the thick mud. After about an hour of this, another small clearing with an odd tree comes into view. As I about to enter the clearing to take a brief rest, I realize another tribute has already claimed this land.


	3. Chapter 3

The giant tribute from District 11, Thresh, lies asleep, back propped up against the thick-trunked tree. Under him is some sort of makeshift sleeping mat made of blankets, sleeping bag, and other pieces of fabric that he has easily snagged at the Cornucopia just one day ago, separating him from the cracked, dirt ground. Small bugs hover around his dark face in the afternoon light, and a dangerous looking, curved sword remains clutched tightly in his hand, even in his unconscious state.

I let out a squeal at the sight of the large tribute and slowly walk backwards until I notice something. To the right of Thresh lie two large backpacks. They most defiantly contain valuable supplies that could only come from the mouth of the Cornucopia. I need those supplies. Not wanting to waste anymore time, I make a small dash into the clearing and rifle through the large packs. I grab one raw potato, and three strips of dried beef and shove them into my burlap sack.

Although I have remained quite as possible, the sleeping giant next to me begins to stir. I stand frozen, my mind cluttered with fear.

"_Calm down," I think to myself, "just get out of here."_

He's now slowing sitting up, lazily swatting the tiny bugs away from his face, however still in a somewhat unconscious state. His eyes flutter open and I sprint off into the tall grass.

It wouldn't take a genius to notice he pursues me. His large body tramples the towering grass and he slashes at the tougher ones with his blade. For someone that large, he is quite fast, but I had a head start on him. My feet push off the hard ground and I look back at my predator. His long, curved sword easily cuts through a thin weed, only a couple yards behind me, its tip scraping my lower back. I let out a scream and fall to the ground, my back landing on my wrist, sending a throbbing pain up my left arm.

The giant stands there, only a few yards away from me, breathing heavily. He awkwardly holds up his weapon over my body sprawled on the ground, I prepare for the blow, but it never comes. Instead, he just stares at me. His eyes dart around my figure, and he slowly lowers his sword.

"_He doesn't want to kill me,"_ I think to myself.

I stare back at the confused boy who towers above me. Thresh, just like me, would rather be anywhere than here right now. Anybody in this vast arena would rather be anywhere than here right now, except, maybe the tributes from one, two, and four. But he knows he has to kill me. I can just hear the shouts from the Capital now. Screaming for Thresh to kill the small girl who shouldn't have survived the first day. He must sense this two, because, just as I think it, he raises his sword once more.

The world seems to go into slow motion once more, just as it did when the girl Glimmer attacked me with her arrows the first day. The sliver blade cuts through the air, but before it can slice into my skin, something strange happens. A blur of orange jumps from the tall grass surrounding us, tackling Thresh to the ground several yards away from where I lie. I don't get a good look at the beast that is surely a mutation created by the Capital, but I am sure I will get a chance, because, more than likely, there will be more than one.

My prediction turns out to be correct, because just as I try and scramble to my feet, another mutation pounces out of the grass and lands only a few feet in front of me. The dark orange mutation resembles a cougar or bob cat in a way but much smaller and more… compact? I do not know how to explain it. It front legs seem to be extremely close to its hind legs, and its mid section is very large. However, there is something much more puzzling about this peculiar animal. Its teeth, knit into a snarl, reflect the sunlight at many different angles and they seem to be almost transparent. It's not until it opens it mouth to let at a violent cry that I notice its teeth are made up of jagged diamonds. Each diamond is at five inches long and extremely sharp. Just like the gamemakers to make their beasts have teeth composed of the sharpest, strongest mineral in the world.

I gaze back from the beast's teeth and begin to shutter. What am I going to do? The mutation is surly faster than me, and I have no weapons to defend myself from its malicious teeth. But now is not the time to collapse and give up. I scan my surroundings, looking for anything that might defend me from the mutation that remains oddly stationary in front of me. The tall grass around me could possibly be used as some sort of spear; however it doesn't seem thick enough and would probably just break if I jabbed a strand of it at the mutations large body. Other than that, nothing else comes into vision- besides the dirt under my feet.

The mutation is getting restless now, and I can tell it is ready to attack the seemingly easy prey in front of it. Just as it bounds off the ground, an idea fills my head.

It's in mid-pounce, soaring through the air, diamond studded teeth protruding out of its thin lips, when I kick a cloud of dirt in the general direction of the mutation. I don't turn back to see the result, but I know it has sufficiently slowed it down because I hear it fall to the earthy ground in a confused, surprised state. I don't wait for it to regain its feet. I sprint off into the woods (the opposite direction of Thresh, towards the clearing where the games started.) My adrenalin is running out, and I begin to feel the full effects of the wounds that have been inflicted on me in just a few hours. Although the slash that runs across my lower back from Thresh's sword is not deep, blood still profusely spills out of it. My wrist, that I am sure is broken, throbs with pain and sends tears to my eyes as I fly through the tall grass, away from the mutations.


End file.
